[WES51]

As far as BBOS, I have once shared, that I have seen some people 'in top positions' using it up to about a year ago. Some jumped in calling this BS and that is OK, because I know what I saw. Turning back the clock to 3 or 4 years ago and BBOS was outright alive and well used among the same top people. During the same time period, I have hardly seen any BB10. So basically from my view, I have witnessed a slow phasing out of BBOS with people holding on to their BBOS phones and with only a few upgrades to BB10. The same people now appear to be all using iPhone. Although this is getting harder and harder to tell from a glance, because of the increasing similarities in looks between iPhone and some Android phones. I have seen one KeyOne phone used by someone and I even commented on it and got a very positive reaction as response.

[bb10adopter111]

I can suspect maybe legacy BB0S, but the US DOD would not care, (depending on the group), about the backend BlackBerry Services because the DOD BBOS always connected to a secure US Government service, not to Blackberry Limited's servers.

Having managed legacy products from time to time one thing I know is major updates are to be avoided. The original developers are gone and new developers can never fully know the impact of even a minor change in the code. Development of a final version of BB10 that would sever the connections to backend services would be tricky and expensive. Definitely would require more developers and testers than BlackBerry currently has in the mobile software group. Considering their output over the last 12 months must be close to nonexistent. The testing matrix alone would be very complex. Trying to determine the results of loading a complex update on phones 5-6 years old would be nearly impossible.

Leaving a few backend services running is a much cheaper option. Plus negative EOL BlackBerry phone press. Keep a few aging servers running. BBOS will die out in most of NA and Europe as older networks are shut down by carriers. Thus no negative BlackBerry publicity because they will one of several phones that will die. Any bad press will be on the carriers.

Maybe 12 months ago they DOD had a group running a legacy BlackBerry Limited MDM. In late 2019 all DOD is required to be on new MDM system. Outside of the DOD and major security services the requirements are still to only use approved products. Some less security sensitive groups may let things slip. But things get ugly when they are eventually caught.

I totally agree that it's much less costly and less risky to simply maintain the current backend services than try to engineer out a key component of the security stack! I honestly would have no faith that BlackBerry could do that properly without a major investment in development and testing.

There is no way to prove a negative (no government teams are using BB10), and I have only sparse, circumstantial evidence that there may still be a few such clients, so we're not going to settle that question. But we can agree that, whether or not enterprise clients exist who may help sustain support for the backend BB10 services, it makes sense for BlackBerry to do that until there are fewer users.

From the screen of my trusty Z10 using the exceptional BlackBerry VKB.

[eshropshire]

I totally agree that it's much less costly and less risky to simply maintain the current backend services than try to engineer out a key component of the security stack! I honestly would have no faith that BlackBerry could do that properly without a major investment in development and testing.

There is no way to prove a negative (no government teams are using BB10), and I have only sparse, circumstantial evidence that there may still be a few such clients, so we're not going to settle that question. But we can agree that, whether or not enterprise clients exist who may help sustain support for the backend BB10 services, it makes sense for BlackBerry to do that until there are fewer users.

From the screen of my trusty Z10 using the exceptional BlackBerry VKB.

Fully agree, the cost of maintaining the backend services is pretty inexpensive right now. The question of how long they will maintain them is right now mute until BlackBerry Limited offers more information.

BTW, I probably came across too strong on BB10 usage. The DOD is vast and I can only speak to 2 things knowledge of the departments I work with, and the information from my security team that has detailed information on DOD security certifications and supplier requirements.

I think people who enjoy BB10 and are willing to jump through the required hoops should not feel any pressure to change.

[bb10adopter111]

Fully agree, the cost of maintaining the backend services is pretty inexpensive right now. The question of how long they will maintain them is right now mute until BlackBerry Limited offers more information.

BTW, I probably came across too strong on BB10 usage. The DOD is vast and I can only speak to 2 things knowledge of the departments I work with, and the information from my security team that has detailed information on DOD security certifications and supplier requirements.

I think people who enjoy BB10 and are willing to jump through the required hoops should not feel any pressure to change.

I appreciate your sharing your understanding of current DOD requirements. I suspect that any govt org still using BB10 is limiting their use to core functions on secured networks with no use of the outdated browser or commercial third party apps.

Basically, the use case would be for tested and certified mission critical communications in a locked-down environment with a minimal attack surface, with a plan to migrate as soon as it's feasible to do so safely.

[Chuck Finley69]

But their stock price is the lowest since 2004...

Posted via CB10

Share price and company performance aren’t in sync with technology sector quite frequently.

[conite]

But their stock price is the lowest since 2004...

Posted via CB10

That doesn't mean much. Stock price and fundamental value are often at odds.

Theoretically, BlackBerry stock should have been worth zero at the end of 2013.

It was only a miracle that allowed them to be here in 2019.

[eshropshire]

I appreciate your sharing your understanding of current DOD requirements. I suspect that any govt org still using BB10 is limiting their use to core functions on secured networks with no use of the outdated browser or commercial third party apps.

Basically, the use case would be for tested and certified mission critical communications in a locked-down environment with a minimal attack surface, with a plan to migrate as soon as it's feasible to do so safely.

My understanding is that is the use case for the remaining BBOS phones in the DOD. They seem to be more suitable for that need.

[jetscre]

In the last week when I look at a phone location on blackberry protect, I get this message over the map:

"The specified credentials are invalid. You can sign up for a free developer account at http://www.bingmapsportal.com"

I'm not sure if the location is correct or just whatever was in the memory.

Any thoughts? whats up?

Looks fixed now. I guess they do care.